Skip to main content

A Review of I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan


Terry McMillan is the queen of writing women’s fiction focused on family relationships, sisterhood, womanhood, and love with a lot of drama in between. In this novel, readers meet Dr. Georgia Young, a 55-year old successful optometrist, twice divorced with two adult children and four grandkids. When she finds out one of her past lovers had passed, she gets the idea of making a list of all her old boyfriends to see how life has treated them and to let them know she hadn’t forgotten about them. At this same time, she gets the idea of downsizing her beautiful home because it was too big, taking a train ride across the country, selling her part of the medical practice where she works, and pursue her passion of decorating/designing. So, Georgia’s plate is very full as she navigates reinventing herself. And if that wasn’t enough, she has to deal with her college/sister-friends: Wanda and Violet meddling in her life (all out of love though). 

I thought the storyline was an interesting one which made me pause and ask myself whether I would go in search of old boyfriends (I wouldn’t) to see “whether they’re still alive and healthy and happy and thriving.” It also touched on regrets which we all have, but it’s all about how we deal with them. Another thing it touched upon was whether women of a certain age after being divorced could dip their toes back into the dating pool and find love again. These were all real-life issues which were handled masterfully by Terry McMillan.

Nevertheless, I found Georgia to be overly judgmental and she wallowed too much in self-pity for too long throughout the book.  Even her eighty-two-year-old mother had more spunk than her (finding a new husband at her age). Anyway, I enjoyed the dialogue between her, Wanda and Violet as it depicted a real slice of life between sister-friends and how much they had each other’s backs.  I also enjoyed her encounters with her ex-husbands, some of the men she went on dates with, and her old boyfriends some of whom she reconnected with. The backstories definitely show how much their lives had changed and, in some aspects, how the love was still there for some of them.

While this book may not be for everyone, I found Georgia’s journey an interesting one of self-discovery and taking chances: deciding how much she loved her home (a reflection of her style and taste), giving up her career to pursue her passion of designing and decorating, taking the train ride, and trusting how to love and be in love again. Toward the end of the novel, I was simply cheering for Georgia (and happy she didn’t forget about herself too). So, the bottom line is if there are any chances of changing something in your life and meeting someone who loves you then by all means go for it! Nothing is impossible if you have close friends to see you through!

Good read!  

Some of my favorite lines:

“I don’t need a lecture, Georgia. I’m just trying to figure out my next steps and how to do what you’re doing?”

“Which is what?”

“Reinventing yourself.”

“Who said I was trying to reinvent myself?”

“You’re a middle-aged woman attempting to sell your beautiful home for no legitimate reason except that you’re bored and trying to start a new career when the one you have is perfectly fine, and then to top it off you’re looking up all your old boyfriends hoping you can hook back up with some of them since you can’t seem to find one right here in the Bay Area.”

“How many drinks have you had?”

“Not enough.”


Rating: 4 stars

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

National Poetry Month’s Feature: Poet Claire Dorsey

Poet’s Bio: Claire Dorsey studied acting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She has worked as an actress for almost 20 years Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway, originating roles in Pearl Cleage's  Late Bus to Mecca  at the Judith Anderson Theater and Diana Son's  Stealing Fire  at SoHo Rep. She appeared in an episode of the TV show  The Wire . She worked as an artist-in-residence in NYC public schools and performed her poetry at venues throughout the city.  She collaborated with NYC photographer Kwasi Noire to self-publish a volume of poetry entitled  Rhythms of a Life . Her work appears in volumes 1 and 2 of The Fire Inside: Collected Stories and Poems from Zora’s Den . Claire works as a proofreader and copy editor and is the mother of one amazing daughter.  Readers can learn more about Claire and her work at: Facebook: Claire Dorsey Instagram: kleyrmoon  Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to be a poet? Claire Dorsey: I am one of nine children. I was nicknamed Idy (

It’s A Book Thing Presents: An Interview with Debbie Stokes, author of The Stranger He Knew

Author’s Bio: Debbie Stokes was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She has always had a desire to be a published author of a fiction novel, but fear stopped her. She often shares how her story ideas come to her in her dreams, and how she jumps up to write them down. Finally, one day, she pushed past her fear and allowed her vision to come to past. She is now a published author, and The Stranger He Knew is her first book.  Debbie is a former CEO, blogger, and interviewer for her previous women's empowerment blog called, 3 Women Voices, where she shared empowering stories of how people overcame odds to live their best lives. She is also a former contributing writer for FEMI Magazine, a cultural lifestyle magazine, where she interviewed and shared people’s stories.  When not writing, she enjoys singing, dancing, inspiring others, and spending time with family.  Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book? Debbie Stokes: That is a funny story. One day, I went

Interview with Jacqueline Seewald, Author of THE INHERITANCE

Author’s Bio: Multiple award-winning author, Jacqueline Seewald, has taught creative, expository and technical writing at Rutgers University as well as high school English. She also worked as both an academic librarian and an educational media specialist. Sixteen of her books of fiction have previously been published to critical praise including books for adults, teens and children. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in hundreds of diverse publications and numerous anthologies. What inspired you to write your book? I enjoy writing romantic mystery fiction. The idea for this particular novel just seemed to evolve organically from my imagination. Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult? I would have to say reading the Bible was influential. As far as regular books go, I’m a big fan of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Is this your first book? How long did it take to start and